Sana, my childhood friend since Kindergarten, has always been a restless soul, eager to revolutionise her surroundings according to her dreams. Now, in the tenth grade, she felt increasingly frustrated as her vision of ideal social norms became more challenging to achieve.

She often lamented, “How unfortunate we are! Allah has bestowed us with every opportunity to excel and thrive in multiple fields of life, but what are we doing? A visionary leadership and true guide is missing, to utilise these resources for the greater good.”

Elections were round the corner, and Sana, unlike most people our age, took interest in current affairs and had been keeping herself informed about the main leaders who were taking part in it. She was concerned about the social and political condition of the country. She was very patriotic and wanted to do things to serve her country.

Frustrated by what she saw around her, she asked me to help her find a solution. However, to me, it seemed to be fruitless frustration and overthinking on a subject beyond our control. How could we generate visionary leadership overnight? Even a magic wand, not available in reality, couldn’t fulfil her dream. So, in response to her perturbed mind, I would try to divert her attention to the enjoyments of our age.

Today, she was in a bad mood again. “Why are we so useless that we cannot even find a true leader among ourselves?” she asked.

As usual, I felt sorry for her, seeing her upset. I wished I could do something to help her as a friend, but I felt powerless. Consoling her about finding some remedy and doubting it, I suddenly had an idea and asked her to come with me. We went to the Teachers’ Room of the school and asked Miss Sara for guidance.

Miss Sara, our English teacher, was a young lady with multiple talents, and she was very kind to students. She listened to our problem carefully and then spoke to us gently.

She explained, “We are born with some basic skills that help us in life. These skills develop and change as we experience different phases of life, from childhood to adulthood, forming our personality and affecting our choices. These are the skills that define us.”

Pausing to check our interest, she then continued in her calm voice, “According to a divine plan, some of us had natural gifts and did not need any training. We learn various skills from childhood to adulthood to get ready for the difficulties that we would face in the real world.”

I couldn’t help, but ask about my concern, “One of the main problems we face in our region is the lack of a good education system that can support and improve the potential of the young generation in various aspects of life, especially preparing the youth for national roles in different fields.”

Miss Sara patiently responded, “One of the important things that I always emphasise is leadership skills. I notice with great sadness that there is a huge gap in this area, that needs to be urgently addressed. Educational institutions do not provide any programme that can teach and mentor students from an early age to become visionary leaders. If, at the school level, skills of debating and communicating with others could be sharpened with regular practice, the desired outcomes could be achieved.” Finishing her sentence, she looked at us curiously to gauge our reaction.

Sana’s smile was a relief to me, indicating that Miss Sara had successfully calmed her down. We walked out of the staff room in good spirits, knowing we can all make a difference.

Published in Dawn, Young World, January 13th, 2024